The Precious Perspective

Genesis 33:5 – And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant.

ConnectPoint has been blessed with a bunch of babies. We have a great Sunday school program and a well-staffed nursery. However, if children happen to be in our service, making noise, it will not bother us. (If our service is so quiet that children are interrupting – we are already in trouble). That noise is the sound of blessing.

Jacob had a great view of his children. From Jacob’s perspective, these children were precious to God and to himself.

My wife and I have been blessed with two great little girls. They both have very different personalities, and likes and dislikes. They are both in love with Jesus and us. These girls love to go to church, which is already a counter-culture attitude. I love it. Sure, there are things we have had to sacrifice to have our babies. There are places we will probably never visit, elaborate vacations will probably never happen, and countless meaningless treasures we will never purchase. But, we wouldn’t trade any of those things for the times we have already had with our little girls.

Today it almost seems like people have the mentality that children are drudgery rather than a blessing. Many people wait till late in life to have children so they can live a bit first. I think we are missing it. The fact is: children are a blessing. Every Christian family has the opportunity to raise up children who will develop into disciples of Jesus, and become missionaries for Jesus in our culture. You are literally framing the future of our world when you raise a godly child. Blessing.

Dad’s need to pastor their children from the moment they are born. As a family you can read the bible together. Pray together every chance you get. Teach Jesus in as many ways as you possibly can. These children haven’t taken away from what your life could have been, rather they have added an element of blessing that only children can bring. Look at them as a blessing.

Sure they need proper discipline, but delight in them before you discipline. Proverbs 3:12 – For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. Remember, if God delights in children, so should we.

Psalms 127:3 – Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.Psalms 127:5 – Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.Deuteronomy 28:4 – Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body.Psalms 128:3 – Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants around thy table.Proverbs 17:6 – Children’s children are the crown of old men, and the glory of children are their fathers.

These are just a few of the plethora of scriptures which show us that our babies are indeed a gift, blessing, and bring favor from God.

Treasure this gift. Honor this gift. Develop this gift. Nurture this gift. Protect this gift. Dedicate this gift.

Prioritize the Precious:

Make sure you aren’t allowing Social Media to steal valuable time you could be spending with your kids.

Try to unplug when you play with them, eat with them, and spend time with them.

Focus on quantity time rather than quality.

Let them hear you say how blessed you are to have them in your life. Let them hear this often.

Don’t let them ever feel like they are an afterthought, make them the priority.

Don’t ever miss a sporting event your children are participating in. Just having you there will make all the difference in the world to your kids.

Give your children chores to complete; using whatever reward system you feel works.

Let your children develop their imagination. If you’re constantly on the computer or watching TV, your children will do the same.

Take them outside, to the park, fishing, hunting, whatever, just spend time with them doing something other than watching the newest episode of Glee.

Spend time reading together.

Eat dinner together every night, make that your priority.

If possible, begin the day with your children, by reading a little scripture and having a short time of prayer before your family begins their day.

Do all of the things you wish you could have done as a kid, with your kids.